Eastwood’s Cam Schumaker (2) outruns Rossford’s Keegan Engram and Jose Selvera-Ros (56) at Jackson Ferguson Field. (Lee Welch | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Ben Shanahan
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
ROSSFORD — Eastwood led 34-0 after the first quarter, then finished off Rossford, 48-0, at Jackson Ferguson Stadium to improve to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in the Northern Buckeye Conference.
The Eagles appeared to play a nearly perfect game, which satisfied coach Sam Cotterman after last week’s struggles to get a league win over Maumee.
“I thought we did not play too sharp last week,” Cotterman said. “It was our focus this week to tighten things up and come out. No excuses, be-sharp effort.
“What happened there last week? We just made mistakes, but this week we came out sharp. A few things to fix defensively, but overall, it was a great night,” Cotterman added.
The Bulldogs fell to 1-5 overall and remain winless in three NBC contests, but coach Todd Drusback was pleased with how his team battled to the end.
“All you can do at that point is play hard and fight to the end,” Drusback said. “Obviously, we knew there were elements that did not help, and we have young kids out there in positions. We told our guys no one is quitting; block the outside noise because the negativity does not help.”
Not only did the Eastwood offense and defense explode in the first half for 41 points, the Eagles’ defense limited the Bulldogs to three first downs.
The game started with the Eagles forcing a three-and-out immediately followed by a one-play, 51-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Drew Luidhardt to wideout Cam Schumaker.
The Eagles’ defense would one-up themselves during their second chance on the field, as on Rossford’s second play from scrimmage, senior Brock Messinger intercepted the ball and run it down to the Bulldogs’ 12-yard line.
Three plays later, fellow senior Andre Lewis ran the final three yards, putting the Eagles up, 14-0, after just three minutes and 55 seconds of football.
Eastwood’s offense was not done, as Luidhardt led another touchdown drive, this time in four plays for 59 yards, making it 21-0, ending in another Luidhardt-Schumaker connection for 27 yards and seven more points.
“Hot start — we had a great week of practice just executing everything perfectly,” Luidhardt said. “In the first quarter, we started out hot. Players made plays, and all my receivers made plays for me. I do not have to do much.”
Despite the sideways rain from the remnants of hurricane Helene, the Eagles kept throwing the ball, then scored another first quarter touchdown. Luidhardt drove Eastwood to the Bulldogs’ six-yard line before letting Andre Lewis power it in to make it 27-0 after an extra point kick was called no good, which was about the only thing that went wrong for the Eagles.
The Eagles ended the first quarter with yet another score, making it 34-0 before the second quarter even began. Dayquan Oliver blew past the Bulldogs’ defense for 53 yards with ten seconds remaining in the quarter.
Luidhardt, a cousin of former Eastwood coaches Jerry Rutherford and Craig Rutherford (now coaching at Otsego), threw his fourth and final touchdown of the first half, ending an eight-play, 69-yard drive, as he connected with Oliver for his second score of the half, making it 41-0 with 6:42 on the second quarter clock.
“Drew has done a fantastic job. I do not want to sound cocky, but we knew he had this in him. He waited for his chance, and he took full advantage of it. He is doing a great job. (He is) definitely a student of a game and fun to watch,” said Cotterman.
Rossford get their first three first downs of the game in their last possession of the first half but got stopped on fourth down deep in Eastwood territory, turning the ball over on downs.
Rossford ran a surprise onside kick to open the second half, which was recovered by Rossford sophomore Brice Eckhart. The Bulldogs took this momentum and marched the ball to the Eastwood four-yard line.
On the four-yard line, the Bulldogs looked to break the shutout, and just before they crossed the goal line, Schumaker stripped the ball and run it 97 yards the other way to make the score, 48-0.
“He is a gamer. I sit there and watch him before games. His focus looks like he is asleep, but he is not, and I can’t even imagine what is going on in that head, but then when he comes out, the lights turn on and he shows up,” said Cotterman.
The Eagles got one more turnover with 8:15 left in the game as Sawyer Mason intercepted a pass, bringing in backup quarterback and brother of Drew Luidhardt, freshman Brayden Luidhardt.
“It is amazing to see him out there. He made a couple great passes. It feels amazing to watch him play and coach him up a bit,” said Drew Luidhardt.
Drew Luidhardt completed 7-of-9 passes for 131 yards and three touchdowns, while his brother Brayden Luidhardt was 4-for-5 for 21 yards.
Schumaker caught four passes for 78 yards, Andre Lewis had a 32-yard reception, Landon Weemes caught two passes for 18 yards, Oliver had a catch for 12 yards, Kevin Lewis had a catch for nine yards, and Cooper Dierksheide had two catches for three yards.
Oliver’s TD carry for 54 yards led the Eastwood rushing attack, Brayden Brown had seven carries for 44 yards, and Kevin Lewis had eight carries for 34 yards.
At game’s end, Eastwood had a 14-9 advantage in first downs, and a 294-119 advantage in total yards.
Paul Lautzenheiser led Eastwood’s defense with 5½ tackles, Connor Norton had 4½ tackles, and Jack Sensenig had 3½ tackles.
Ronnie Hawkins IV led Rossford with 80 yards rushing on 19 carries, including his longest run of 17 yards, Jackson Drusback completed 9-of-17 passes for 49 yards, and Jose Selvera led the Bulldogs’ defense with five solo tackles and two assists.
